ELEMENTE COERCITIVE PENTRU LIBERTATEA DE EXPRESIE ÎN REGLEMENTĂRILE AUDIOVIZUALULUI NAŢIONAL

Ion BUNDUCHI Catedra Jurnalism

Rezumat

The freedom of the press constitutes a basic element in the balanced and fair development of the society. The liberty and independence press degree depends on three fundamental factors: mass-media activity regulation; the existence of the well-prepared managers and the ability of surviving in the new economic conditions; the level of professionalism and responsibility of the journalists. The first premise, for a free press indeed, is the press liberty guarantee through law. The national legislation guarantees press freedom and independence, but it does not contain univocal and clear mechanisms of the real assurance of press liberty and independency. A conclusive example may serve the Audiovisual Code of Republic of Moldova, adopted by the Parliament in July 2006. Besides the judicious reviews and concordant recommendations of the Council of Europe in audiovisual field, the present Code also comprises a chain of ambiguous, uncertain stipulations which offer free space for arbitrary interpretations and also for abuses. In our opinion, the most dangerous gaps of the new law, deal with the financing mechanism of the regulation authority in the field of audiovisual and public radio and TV service. The legal review of financing those two institutions from the state annual budget, doubts their autonomy and independence assurance of the eventual exterior encroachments. Although the Audiovisual Code is a quite a new law, it is not absolved by the repealed old law shortcomings. It demands such fines, as to correspond to the European recommendations and to contribute to the constitution, in Republic of Moldova, of an audiovisual based on democratic principles.